Key Takeaways:
- Onchain data shows 793 BTC spent May 1-3, 2026, with 56 of 62 outputs originating from 2016 wallets.
- A single 110 BTC output created in June 2011 moved on May 1, signaling decade-old holders are still active.
- Activity spiked sharply on May 3 as bitcoin traded near $79,000, with 50 of 62 total outputs spent on Sunday.
Onchain Data Tracks $62.5M Worth of BTC Leaving Old Wallets Since May 1
The last three days of May saw 62 spent outputs from dormant coins across the Bitcoin network, according to btcparser.com stats. The majority, 56 of the 62 outputs, originated from coins created in late 2016, accounting for roughly 600 BTC of the total spent. Most of those 2016 outputs moved on May 2 and May 3, with single-transaction amounts ranging from a fraction of a bitcoin to more than 26 BTC.
The older activity deserves attention. Two outputs created in 2011 were spent on May 1, totaling 130.02 BTC. One of those came from a wallet holding 110 BTC, with coins dating back to June 13, 2011. The other output, 20.02 BTC, traced back to July 6, 2011. Together, those two transactions represent about 16% of the total BTC moved this month.
A third early-era transaction, from a 2012 output, moved 11.36 BTC on May 1. The coins had been acquired on Sept. 28, 2012. A 2013 output, dated Sept. 11 of that year, contributed another 11.77 BTC on May 3.
Two 2014 dormant bitcoin spends also cleared in May so far. Coins obtained Aug. 16, 2014, moved 10.07 BTC, while a March 20, 2014, output contributed 30.41 BTC. Combined, 2014 wallets sent about 40.48 BTC.
Activity accelerated on Sunday. Of the 62 total outputs, just 4 cleared on May 1, 8 on May 2, and 50 on May 3. That spike accounted for the bulk of the volume and aligned with bitcoin trading at higher prices over $79,000 as of 7 p.m. ET.
The 2016 cohort drove most of May’s volume. Specific examples from include sleeping coins from Dec. 10, 2016, Dec. 7, 2016, and Nov. 27, 2016, with individual outputs ranging from 0.01 BTC to more than 26 BTC per transaction. Two of the larger single spends from that batch totaled 26.28 BTC and 24.32 BTC.
A substantial portion of the 2016-era addresses transitioned from legacy wallets into newly formed P2WPKH (Pay-to-Witness-Public-Key-Hash) addresses. In a comparable move, the 2011 wallet was likewise migrated to a new and unidentified P2WPKH destination. It remains unclear whether these coins have been liquidated, are poised for sale, or are merely being reorganized into more modern address structures.
What the data does confirm is that 793 BTC moved over 72 hours, with the oldest coins coming from addresses active more than a decade ago. Whether the movement reflects distribution or repositioning, the wallets were quiet for years before this week.
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